Hardrock69's Reefhead Madness Thread

[Hardrock69]

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Testing Art's OG, Diablo and Monster tonight.

this is only a test

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/02/bill-ending-cannabis-prohibition-introduced-in-oregon/

Bill Ending Cannabis Prohibition Introduced in Oregon
by Anthony Johnson • February 25, 2013

On the heels of Colorado and Washington legalizing cannabis, the Oregon House Committee on Revenue has recently introduced a bill that would end cannabis prohibition by licensing, regulating and taxing cannabis similar to alcohol. After legalization victories in two states and 47% of Oregon voters supporting a proposal that would have allowed the unlimited personal production and possession of cannabis last November, The Oregonian Editorial Board called on state lawmakers to craft a sensible legalization bill. The editorial board was rightfully concerned that Oregon would be losing out on much-needed revenue to its northern neighbor.

And if business booms at Washington’s pot shops, as expected? Our neighbor to the north will collect millions of dollars in new “sin” taxes, with much of the money coming from Oregonians who’d be happy to keep their business — and taxes — in state if given the opportunity.

Losing out on all that revenue would be a pity. However, when policies diverge so widely in adjoining states — whether they govern marijuana or taxes – people move back and forth in pursuit of their interests. Want to stop the movement? Remove the incentives by leveling the policies.

The obvious policy response for Oregon is to legalize marijuana as Washington has done. Like the idea or hate it, it wouldn’t amount to a radical change. For all intents and purposes, Oregon legalized the casual use of marijuana years ago through that giant loophole known as the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. By taking the Washington approach, the state at least would be honest about what it’s doing and, perhaps, collect some cash in the process.

Some astute Oregon legislators appear to have heard The Oregonian (and common sense) loud and clear. It is time to stop wasting hard-earned tax dollars on trying to prevent people from growing, selling and utilizing cannabis. Instead of wasting money on cannabis prohibition, House Bill 3371 would establish a licensed and regulated industry that creates thousands of jobs and generates millions of dollars through licenses fees and excise taxes.

The bill takes good parts from both the Washington and Colorado models and crafts a proposal that will regulate and tax cannabis like alcohol, implementing safeguards to better keep marijuana out of the hands of children while also generating millions of dollars in revenue for education, public safety, substance abuse treatment and mental health services. Unlike, Washington’s I-502, HB 3371 doesn’t establish a per se DUII law as it leaves the current DUII law alone. Employment and landlord-tenant law are also left alone. Like Colorado Amendment 64, the measure allows for small, personal cannabis gardens. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) will handle inspections and enforcement, tasked with ensuring that cannabis retail outlets are checking IDs and keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors.

The timing is right for Oregon to end cannabis prohibition. Colorado and Washington legalized cannabis with strong majorities and support is increasing rapidly among Oregon voters. Passing HB 3371 is a good policy for the state as it will expand individual rights; raise funds for much-needed services; save money by diverting resources currently spent on marijuana enforcement; and allow police to focus on more important priorities, like violent crime. Just like alcohol prohibition, cannabis prohibition is a failure that is robbing good citizens of their tax dollars, without accomplishing any of its intended goals. I commend the House Committee on Revenue for taking up this important issue and look forward to helping move this bill forward.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/28/Makeshift-marijuana-cannon-confiscated-in-Mexicali/1151362056299/

looks hard to light...

[Hardrock69]

Wow. That is awesome!

[PETE'S BROTHER]

fire.jpg

[FORD]

[jhale667]

[Hardrock69]

[Hardrock69]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/07/automated-pot-dispenser-headed-san-diego/

Pot vending machines coming to SD?



SAN DIEGO — Could San Diegans soon be getting their medical marijuana from vending machines?

Los Angeles-based Medbox Inc. is securing leases to put its automated dispensing machines in up to 30 locations around the city in anticipation that the City Council could approve a dispensary ordinance later this month.

For $150,000, the company assists would-be operators in getting their dispensary up and running with its technology, which Medbox says provides carefully managed access and reduces theft.

More than 100 Medbox machines now operate in California, Colorado and Canada. Previous plans to bring them to San Diego were nixed when the U.S. Attorney’s Office cracked down on dispensaries here in 2011.

Now the company has received deposits to set up its shops in more than a dozen locations in San Diego in the hope that Mayor Bob Filner succeeds in getting new regulations in place.

Medbox CEO Bruce Bedrick said the company’s patented technology has turned it into a consultant for medical marijuana startups that want to run their operations securely and within the law.

“We help people get into the business of medical marijuana by taking them from a ground zero all the way up and through turnkey dispensary,” he said.

Bedrick added, “It is a detractor of crime. ... It’s a lot easier to go in and rob a dispensary that has pot all over the place and cash all over the place compared to some place that uses an 800-pound machine, or two, that’s armor-plated.”

One of the biggest criticisms facing dispensaries — especially from federal prosecutors — is that they are engaged in a for-profit drug-selling operation rather than servicing needy patients as nonprofits. Dispensaries have also been frequent targets for robberies.

Medbox facilities look much like a doctor’s office, although with armored dispensing machines located in a secure area. Medical marijuana patients must provide a state-issued ID card and a fingerprint to gain access and the machines won’t dispense more than has been prescribed by a doctor. Each transaction is recorded.

The City Council is slated to discuss the medical marijuana issue at its March 25 meeting, although council President Todd Gloria’s office said it is unclear if a proposed ordinance from Filner will be under consideration at that time.

In late January, Filner promised to deliver a new ordinance within 30 days that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate legally within city limits. That deadline has passed, but he continues to work with advocates on crafting it.

Filner told San Diego CityBeat that he’s considering a $10,000 permit fee for dispensaries and a 2 percent excise tax on the sale of marijuana products. A mayoral spokeswoman confirmed the ordinance would likely include those provisions but said Filner didn’t have an opinion yet on Medbox’s technology and a TV report that he supports the machines was incorrect.

Filner renewed the dispensary debate Jan. 8 when he told a group of medical marijuana advocates that he would intimidate the city attorney into backing off prosecutions. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith responded the next day by informing Filner that he could halt prosecutions by using his strong-mayor powers to direct police and code enforcement officers to stop forwarding cases to the City Attorney’s Office. Filner issued that decree the next day.

At the time, Goldsmith said about 100 prosecutions had already been completed against dispensaries and 11 were still active and would be dropped at Filner’s direction. The council later voted in closed session — with Filner’s consent — to proceed with enforcement actions until a new ordinance is enacted because of fears that dispensaries would begin opening again before rules were in place.

[jhale667]

[Coyote]

[Hardrock69]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/colorados-marijuana-task-force-recommendations-report-pot_n_2871455.html?utm_hp_ref=marijuana

Colorado's Marijuana Task Force Issues 58 Recommendations For How Pot Should Be Regulated

Posted: 03/13/2013 7:33 pm EDT

Colorado's Marijuana Task Force issued its final recommendations for how the state ought to implement Amendment 64, though the actual regulations will be made by state lawmakers.

The 165-page report released Wednesday included 58 recommendations to be reviewed by the governor and state legislators.

Task Force Co-Chair Jack Finlaw, the Governor's Chief Legal Counsel, called the report "very comprehensive" and said that it laid the groundwork for regulation.

"The Task Force recommendations will now need to be perfected through the legislative process and rulemakings by various state agencies," Finlaw said in a statement.

(Click here to read the report in full)

http://www.colorado.gov/cms/forms/dor-tax/A64TaskForceFinalReport.pdf

Task force leaders agreed that legislators will have to put a "Marijuana Products Sales Tax" initiative on the November ballot, but left the taxation rate to legislators.

According to a 7News report, some in the task force recommended a 25 percent sales tax, but others were concerned that it would continue to perpetuate the underground market for cheap pot.

The task force also recommended that during the first year of licensing "only entities with valid medical marijuana licenses should be able to obtain licenses to grow, process and sell adult-use cannabis."

Smoking marijuana in bars should be banned in establishments covered by the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act as well as other places where tabacco smoke is tolerated, the report says.

Consistent with alcohol rules, the task force also recommends that the Legislature prohibit open packages of marijuana in vehicles.

"This was ground-breaking work and the Task Force process went very well," task force co-chair Barbara Brohl said. "It was supported by many committed and astute individuals who took the Governor's charge very seriously. Task force members represented differing viewpoints, they addressed all issues in a well-thought-out manner and worked hard to develop sound solutions. The Task Force did all the 'heavy lifting," but now a lot of follow up work has to be done in the coming months."

[Hardrock69]

http://tokesignals.com/marijuana-improves-mental-sharpness-in-middle-aged-men-study/

Marijuana Improves Mental Sharpness In Middle-Aged Men: Study
By Steve Elliott On March 17, 2013 at 11:07 am

Not only does smoking marijuana not “burn you out,” but it’s downright good for your brain. It actually appears to improve cognitive functioning among middle-aged men, according to a 2011 medical study.

Researchers looked at a large sample of 8,992 men who “used drugs,” mostly cannabis, at age 42 and then again at age 50, reported Dennis Romero at LA Weekly. The men were tested to measure their level of brain functioning.

Surprise, surprise — the Brits who had used illegal drugs did just as well — or slightly better! — than the chaps who had never “used drugs” at all.

When current and past drug users were lumped together as one group, their scores tended to be better than those of non-users. That advantage was small, researchers said, and might be due to the fact that people who have tried drugs tend to be better educated than those who haven’t.

“A positive association was observed between ever (past or current) illicit drug use and cognitive functioning,” the study’s authors concluded in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Marijuana was by far the most commonly used substance among participants of the study — performed by Alex Dregan of King’s College London, reported Amy Norton at Reuters.

”At the population level, it does not appear that current illicit drug use is associated with impaired cognitive functioning in early middle age,” an abstract of the study concludes.

Other drugs that were asked about included amphetamines, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine and ecstasy, but only three to eight percent of study participants said they’d ever tried those.

A small subset of participants who claimed they had been treated for their drug use — which could suggest heavy or addicted drug use, or perhaps harder drugs of choice — did not fare as well cognitively at 50, but there were so few of them, it was impossible to draw meaningful conclusions, the study’s authors said.

“In a Western population of occasional drug users, this is what you’d expect to see,” said John Halpern, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who has studied the potential cognitive effects of drugs.

“In some ways, this is not surprising,” Dr. Halpern said. “The brain is resilient.”

The study’s findings support the idea that the effects of marijuana and perhaps other drugs are only temporary, and that cognition isn’t damaged once the effects wear off.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/03/bill-ending-marijuana-prohibition-in-oregon-scheduled-for-a-hearing/

Bill Ending Marijuana Prohibition in Oregon Scheduled for a Hearing
by Anthony Johnson • March 19, 2013

We recently broke the story that a bill to legalize cannabis had been introduced in the Oregon Legislature and some mainstream media outlets are now picking up the story as the bill has been scheduled for a hearing before the Oregon House Judiciary Committee. We here at NCC helped craft this bill, along with both Oregon grassroots and national activists. I am the director of a new PAC established to help promote this bill during the 2013 Oregon legislative session. If Oregon legislators won’t pass a bill this session, we will transition to a legislative referral for 2014. If the legislators ultimately fail to act, then we are preparing for a possible initiative petition drive to place the measure before Oregon voters in November of 2014.

From The Oregonian:

State lawmakers scrounging for money for schools, mental health and public safety could find the solution to their funding woes to be green.

No, not more cold, hard cash, but pot. Legalize it and tax it. That’s the plan under House Bill 3371, which is scheduled for an April 2 public hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

***

“Soon, we may have our neighbor to the north collecting tax revenue from Oregon residents, when Oregon should be collecting that revenue,” said Anthony Johnson, director of New Approach Oregon, a new political action committee formed by a coalition of groups seeking legalization of marijuana and hemp in Oregon. “Marijuana is safer than alcohol, and it makes sense to regulate it like alcohol.”

House Bill 3371, as currently written, would allow adults over 21 to grow up to 6 mature cannabis plants and posses up to 24 ounces, the current limits imposed upon Oregon medical marijuana cardholders. Only sales regulated by the state will be allowed as the bill establishes the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) as the government agency tasked with regulating commercial producers, processors and retailers. A $35 tax on each ounce will be imposed, providing the state with millions of dollars of additional revenue. Forty percent of the revenue raised will go towards schools, 20% to public safety, 20% to mental health services and 20% towards the state’s General Fund. The bill doesn’t impact the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), driving under the influence laws or employer/employee relations. The bill will also fully legalize hemp production in Oregon as it removes federal interference as a reason for the state Department of Agriculture from issuing hemp production licenses.

The Oregonian Editorial Board has already called upon the Oregon Legislature to enact a common-sense legalization measure and House Bill 3371 provides legislators that very opportunity. Cannabis legalization is inevitable. Every arrest, prosecution and jail sentence is such a tragic waste, as is every violent crime that could be prevented if our law enforcement resources were better prioritized. Workers remain unemployed, revenue goes uncollected and our schools are underfunded, but House Bill 3371 can help. Let’s hope that the Oregon Legislature will do what is best for their constituents and join Washington and Colorado in ending the harmful policy of cannabis prohibition.